Electromagnetically operated game



April 16, 1963 3,085,802

J. C. YARASHES ELECTROMAGNETICALLY OPERATED GAME Filed Nov. 17, 1960 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR- JoHu C. YA ZASHES ATTO IZME United StatesPatent 3,085 802 ELECTROMAGNETICAILY OPERATED GAME John C. Yarashes, 342Bennett St., Luzerne, Pa. Filed Nov. 17, 1960, 801'. No. 70,054 2Claims. (Cl. 273118) This invention relates to an electro-magneticallyoperated game, and it more particularly relates to a game of theaforesaid type which is adapted to be played by two or more persons.

It is one object of the present invention to provide anelectro-magnetically operated game assembly wherein various types ofgames may be played according to the choice of the players.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a game assembly ofthe aforesaid type which is simple in construction and simple tooperate.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a game assembly ofthe aforesaid type which is compact and which is self-energizing.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide an improved gamedevice, of the character described, that is easily and economicallyproduced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly efiicientin operation.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists inthe details of construction and combination of parts, as will be morefully understood from the following description, when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a device embodying the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the electrical network used in the deviceof FIGS. 1-5.

FIG. 7 is a top view of two different removable game cards, the top cardbeing partly broken away to reveal a portion of the lower card.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings, wherein similar referencecharacters refer to similar parts, there is shown a hollow housing,generally designated 10, comprising a top wall 12, downwardly andoutwardly sloping end walls 14 and 16, side walls 18 and 2t} and abottom wall 22.

The housing 10 is preferably constructed of sheet aluminum of about0.018 inch in thickness, a single sheet of such aluminum being used tomake the top wall 12, end walls 14 and 16 and side walls 18 and 20 ofintegral construction.

The top wall 12 is bounded at its two longitudinal edges by ribs orbeads 24 which are integral with ribs or beads 26 provided on oppositeedges of the end walls 14 and 16. The bottom wall 22 is a separate platewhich is releasably retained in position by means of opposed groovedbeads 28 and 30 on the bottom of side walls 18 and 20 respectively (asbest seen in FIG. 3). This construction permits easy access to theinterior of the housing 10.

In the surface of the top wall '12 there are punched a plurality ofholes 32 arranged in intersecting rows and columns. The holes 32 arepreferably punched about inch apart and their defining edges 34 are bentdown or countersunk in wedge-shaped arrangement (as best seen in FIG. 4)to support individual electromagnetic cores 36. These cores 36, whichmay be ordinary iron nails, rivets, or the like, are provided with heads38 flush with the top surface of the wall 12.

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Each core 36 is provided with an electromagnetic coil 40. These coils 40are electrically connected by wires 42 to a common ground wire 44 whichis, in turn, connected to the negative terminal 46 on an ignitionbattery 48. The battery 48 is supported within the housing 10- by acollar or bracket 50 having a bridge 58 is connected to a selector prodor electrode 64, while the wire 60 is connected to a selector prod orelectrode 66.

On each end wall 14 and 16 is positioned a selector panel, respectivelydesignated 68 and 70. The panels 68 and 70 are provided with electricalcircuit completing contacts of identical construction andcharacteristics, these contacts 72 each comprising an iron buildingnail, rivet or the like, having a head 74 forming the electricalcontact, these heads 74 being positioned above the upper surface oftheir respective panels 68 and 70. A conduit 76 is connected to eachcontact 72, these contacts 72 being arranged in alternate rows (as bestshown in FIGS. 1 and 6).

Each coil 40 is electrically connected to a corresponding contact head74 on either the selector panel 68 or 70. In this respect, eachelectromagnet on the playing area constituted by top wall 12 isnumbered, and the contacts on each panel 68 or 70 are similarlynumbered. The corresponding numbers of coils 40 are individuallyconnected to the corresponding numbers of the contact heads 74. In thisconnection, the contacts on panel 68 are characterized by odd numbers,while those on panel 70 are characterized by even numbers. In thismanner, alternate coils 40 are electrically connected to alternateselector panels, either panel 68 or panel 70 as the case may be.

The game includes one or more balls 78, which may be of the same ordifferent sizes. These balls 78 are of hollow, thin-wall steelconstruction and are adapted to be attracted to the electromagneticallyactuated core heads 38. In this manner, when the electromagnetic fieldwhich is attracting and moving a ball 78 toward the corresponding core36 is suddenly collapsed by cutting off the current first before theattraction causes the ball 78 to adhere to the core head 38, the ball 78will be cast a distance from the head 38, depending on theelectromagnetic field cut off.

The electromagnets, comprising cores 36, heads 38 and coils 40, are somounted and arranged that at least one electromagnet is in a position toeffectively move a ball 78 anywhere on the playing area constituted bythe top wall 12. In this connection, the ribs or beads '24 serve asbarriers to prevent the balls 78 from falling off the edges of theplaying surface.

The spacing of the electromagnets on the playing surface is determinedby the diameter of the magnetic field produced by each individualelectromagnet. This, in turn, is determined by the size of the cores 36and the type of material of which they are constructed, as well as bythe size of the wire and the number of turns of the wire forming thecoils 40. It also depends on the amount of electric current applied.

Various different types of games may be played by means of the presentdevice. The type of game depends on the type of adhesively-backed card,designated 80 or 82, which is placed on top of the playing area or uppersurface of the top wall 12.

In FIG. 7, two different types of cards 80 and 82 are shown. The lowercard 80 represents a football game with a playing field and goal postsillustrated thereon.

A ball 78 which, if desired, may be shaped like a football, is actuatedby the players at either end by using their respective selector prods ontheir respective panels 68 and 70. By applying the prod 64 or 66 to thecorrect contact head 74, the ball 78 can be made to move in onedirection or the other. When the ball 78 moves across a goal line, it isa score. The sheets or cards 80 and 82 are gummed or adhesive on theirbacks and may be interchangeably adhered to the top wall 12. By using asuitable adhesive, the cards may be readily removable forinterchangeability. Any cards with other game indicia thereon may alsobe used.

The other card 82 is used for a game designated Capture the Universe.The card 82 depicts a blue colored, gold and silver starred celestialscene. Tiny stars 84 indicate the position of the electromagnet cores 36to help the players judge the positions of the balls 78. Silver coloredstars indicate one opponents electromagnets, while gold stars indicatethose of the other opponent. One caption is gold star imprinted, whilethe other is silver star imprinted. Large stars on the playing area andcloudy effects are used to complete a celestial picture. The zonesCapture the Universe are the goal areas on either end of the card 82.The balls 78 are made in various sizes to symbolically represent thenine planets and the sun.

The object of the game is to move the balls 78 about the boardrepresented by card 82 to the appropriate goal areas. The winner is theplayer who captures the most planets.

The balls 78 are colored to represent the dominant colors of the planetsand their diameters preferably range rom about to about 1 /4 inches.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, suchdescription is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting,since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of theinvention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and described the nature of this invention, whatis claimed is:

1. A game device comprising a hollow non-ferrous metal housing with aplaying area and oppositely disposed control areas, said control areascomprising panels on opposite end walls of said housing, a replaceableplaying card on said playing area, a plurality of hollow thinwall steelballs rollable over said playing card on said playing area, a pluralityof electromagnets on said playing area for activating said balls, aplurality of circuit completing contacts on each of said control areas,said electromagnets on said playing area comprising electromagneticcores, each having a head mounted in a countersunk opening in theplaying area so that said head is flush with the playing surface of saidplaying area, said cores depending from said heads and each core havingan electromagnetic coil wound thereon, said coils being electricallyconnected to corresponding contacts in said control area, theelectromagnets on said playing area being alternately connected tocorresponding contacts on one or the other control areas, the diameterof at least some of the balls being greater than the distance betweenthe electromagnetic cores under the control of either one control area,said electromagnets on said playing area being commonly electricallyconnected to a source of electricity and a pair of selector prodsindividually electrically connected to said source of electricity, saidprods being adapted to be manually manipulated to contact the circuitcompleting contacts on a selected control area to cause theelectromagnet in the selected area to activate a ball within the rangeof said electro magnet.

2. A game device comprising a hollow non-ferrous metal housing having atop wall comprising a playing surface, oppositely inclined integrallyextending end walls, integrally extending side walls and a removablebottom wall slidably mounted in oppositely grooved beads on the bottomedges of said side walls, said top wall having countersunk openings inwhich are positioned electromagnetic cores, said end walls each having apanel provided with a plurality of circuit completing contacts, thecontacts on said panels having contact core heads projecting above thesurface of the respective panel, said cores in the openings of said topwall being arranged in a series of intersecting rows and columns, thecoils of alternate cores being electrically connected to correspondingcontacts in one or the other panel alternately, said cores in saidcountersunk openings having electromagnetic coils wound thereon, saidcoils being commonly electrically connected at one side to a source ofelectricity and being individually electrically connected at their othersides to corresponding contacts in one panel or the other, a pair ofselector prods individually electrically connected to the source ofelectricity, one prod being adapted to selectively contact the circuitcompletin g contacts of one panel and the other prod being adapted toselectively contact the circuit completing contacts of the other panel,a replaceable playing surface card on said top wall, and a plurality ofhollow thin-wall steel balls on said surface activatable over saidsurface by selectively actuated electromagnetic cores, the diameter ofat least some, but not all, of the balls being greater than the distancebetween the magnetic cores under the control of either one panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,616,280 Prins Feb. 1, 1927 1,648,956 Meade Nov. 15, 1927 1,848,880Hansen Mar. 8, 1932 2,801,856 Medowar Aug. 6, 1957 2,894,747 SeymourJuly 14, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 454,258 Germany Jan. 3, 1928 844,547France Apr. 24, 1939 309,217 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1955

1. A GAME DEVICE COMPRISING A HOLLOW NON-FERROUS METAL HOUSING WITH A PLAYING AREA AND OPPOSITELY DISPOSED CONTROL AREAS, SAID CONTROL AREAS COMPRISING PANELS ON OPPOSITE END WALLS OF SAID HOUSING, A REPLACEABLE PLAYING CARD ON SAID PLAYING AREA, A PLURALITY OF HOLLOW THINWALL STEEL BALLS ROLLABLE OVER SAID PLAYING CARD ON SAID PLAYING AREA, A PLURALITY OF ELECTROMAGNETS ON SAID PLAYING AREA FOR ACTIVATING SAID BALLS, A PLURALITY OF CIRCUIT COMPLETING CONTACTS ON EACH OF SAID CONTROL AREAS, SAID ELECTROMAGNETS ON SAID PLAYING AREA COMPRISING ELECTROMAGNETIC CORES, EACH HAVING A HEAD MOUNTED IN A COUNTERSUNK OPENING IN THE PLAYING AREA SO THAT SAID HEAD IS FLUSH WITH THE PLAYING SURFACE OF SAID PLAYING AREA, SAID CORES DEPENDING FROM SAID HEADS AND EACH CORE HAVING AN ELECTROMAGNETIC COIL WOUND THEREON, SAID COILS BEING ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO CORRESPONDING CONTACTS IN SAID CONTROL AREA, THE ELECTROMAGNETS ON SAID PLAYING AREA BEING ALTERNATELY CONNECTED TO CORRESPONDING CONTACTS ON ONE OR THE OTHER CONTROL AREAS, THE DIAMETER OF AT LEAST SOME OF THE BALLS BEING GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC CORES UNDER THE CONTROL OF EITHER ONE CONTROL AREA, SAID ELECTROMAGNETS ON SAID PLAYING AREA BEING COMMONLY ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY AND A PAIR OF SELECTOR PRODS INDIVIDUALLY ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO SAID SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY, SAID PRODS BEING ADAPTED TO BE MANUALLY MANIPULATED TO CONTACT THE CIRCUIT COMPLETING CONTACTS ON A SELECTED CONTROL AREA TO CAUSE THE ELECTROMAGNET IN THE SELECTED AREA TO ACTIVATE A BALL WITHIN THE RANGE OF SAID ELECTROMAGNET. 